An often bandied about misinformation.
Volume ≠ velocity.
A Chinook’s down wash was
measured and fell within the USAF specs for SAR ops.
View attachment 65721
A RAF friend having flown both EH-101 and HC.2/3/6 Chinnies described the aircraft as sitting atop either a tornado (EH-101) or a Typhoon (Chinook), one more intense in a smaller area, the other disrupting a larger area but with less intensity. Interestingly, the RAF put the EH-101 only in Iraq, close to sea level, while the Chinook is quite at home in the mountains in challenging airflow. There are few (if any?) 113-qualified SAR pilots left, but those I spoke with at the time lamented losing the tandem rotor capability in the mountains. Anyway, if RW SAR folks wouldn’t want to fly a 147F, that’s their prerogative.
That ship sailed on April 29, 1992…the day that Marcel Masse announced the Griffon acquisition. We’ll see V-280s to replace the Griffon in the 2030s before we ever see H60 type helos replacing the 146.
$0.02
Regards
G2G